Electric Callboy

Electric Callboy | Solence | Conquer Divide – Show Review – August 25, 2023 – Portland, Oregon – Roseland Theater

It was an extremely hot night in Portland, Oregon for Electric Callboy’s first day of their Tekkno tour in the United States. The show was sold out, actually, the entire tour was sold out. This was a night the MIRP team has been looking forward to for a long time! The album made the list of our top albums of 2022, so there was much anticipation for this show.

Susanna, Jer and Susie of MIRP

The MIRP team got their early and braved the line in the heat along with many other fans, some of which dressed up representing some of the amazing music videos Electric Callboy has released. We watched a Portland tweaker person dance in the street, nearly get hit by a bus, and toss her shoes and hat up in the air while salaciously dancing, or what I really mean is, trying to dance; she engaged the crowd with weird words and it was sad, but oddly entertaining. An example of Portland now.

Up first was Conquer Divide from Michigan (via the US, UK, and Canada). They were good, with the stand out player being the bassist/co-singer Janel. Once they took the stage, I immediately noticed Samantha (drummer) was missing, later finding out she was just going to miss a couple of shows because she is getting married! Congratulations Samantha! The MIRP team wishes you all the best on this amazing chapter in your life! Don’t worry, Ryan Ritthaler took over as drummer for the night and he did great. Besides Ryan this evening, Conquer Divide are Kiarely Castillo, Janel Duarte, Kristen Sturgis, Izzy Johnson and Samantha Landa. I love how they didn’t parade their sexuality through their dress; they were cool and talented, with a giant venue mentality in a medium sized club. They threw out all of the tricks “wall of death,” “clapping,” “arms swaying,” “phone lights,” all within their short set. My favorite moments were when Kiarely (singer) said, “take a moment and look around,” – like a beautiful feeling of togetherness, and then she abruptly said, “moment is over.” They played my (Susanna’s) personal favorites “Paralyzed” and “welcome2paradise” and Conquer Divide sound like they do on the album with more energy. Seeing them live did not disappoint.

Up next was Solence from Sweden. What a fun band! I can see why this band was chosen to support Electric Callboy. My first thought when they came on stage with their all white gear, was ‘boy band.’ Solence are Markus, David Vikingsson, David Straaf and Johan Sward. They play some “Good F**King Music” for sure and put on a great show. A little cheeky, quite silly, but super talented with catchy and energetic music. Their music touted positivity and fun, and it was a pleasure to see them on this night. Even if you didn’t know their songs, Solence had a presence that made you want to get up, dance and sing along. Their last song of the set had the crowd chanting “Solence” which was perfect because it made sure you wouldn’t forget who they are. The MIRP team will definitely be seeing them again whenever they can come back to Portland.

The lights went down at exactly 9:00pm and a video played of the train attendant from the Tekkno Train music video, letting us know Electric Callboy was about to take the stage and build up the energy. Electric Callboy are Kevin (vocals/keyboard), Nico (vocals), Daniel (guitar), Pascal (guitar), Daniel (bass), and David (drummer). The band was humble after their ten year break from Portland and you could clearly see how overwhelmed with love they were. This being their first stop of the tour, Portland had to bring it and they did. Showing the love, admiration and thankful for them to come back filled the Roseland Theater. Electric Callboy’s style of pop, tekkno (intentional spelling) and hard breakdown metal was exhilarating and fun. People danced and sang from the floor to the balcony! This band knows how to work the crowd. It was a perfect performance from a band that obviously loves what they do. We have the set list but feel it is better for you to just be surprised by the mix of old and new with a few surprises thrown in. And if you can’t handle not knowing the set list, as our photographer Jer Dimes would say, you just gotta ‘let it go.’ We will say, they played old songs from when they were Eskimo Callboy (a name change from the men from Germany, noting that Eskimo could possibly be considered derogatory to the Inuit and Yupuik people of Alaska) which is incredibly cool in our opinion. If only the world could be as this venue of fans were tonight. Serenaded by the men of Electric Callboy. No fights. No anger. Just love and fun.

Some of the MIRP team had the privilege of meeting some of the members of the bands that evening. Everyone we met were super nice, pumped from the amazing show and genuinely excited to talk to their fans. Dare I say, I know it for sure, one of my (Susanna’s) top 5 live shows I have seen. Thank you Conquer Divide, Solence and Electric Callboy for one amazing night.